European theme parks closing again with Covid resurgence, bad news for California operators

But it’s not just an autism thing. Either that or every kid today has autism.

That's not the point. You don't know what a parent is rolling with, and I'm certain they can do without your judgment.

I don’t believe I made a judgement.

Jeff said:

"Hey, four rows back, can you grab that for me?" while I get stink-eyes from everyone in between, like it's my fault.

Those are just sh!tty people who probably fly once every 3 years but think they are something special and shouldn't be bothered. I'm the first to make that awkward eye contact with someone needing a bag and gladly help out if I can.

Lord Gonchar said:

I guess I'm lucky that my kids were little in the days before it took 1001 devices to travel with children.

My kids take devices, maybe a book and stuffed animal, snacks... I don't know. But I have a strict "I'm not carrying that crap for you" policy. Therefore, make it fit in a backpack and throw it under the seat in front of you.

I see people in airport bars with a carryon suitcase and "personal item" backpack and a laptop or whatever and trying to juggle that stuff and their food and drink, and god forbid you need to go to the bathroom then you're taking all that in there with you to get a nice layer of feces fumes on it. I HATE lugging stuff around with me, which is one reason that I mostly fly Southwest. It's the freedom to not give a crap if I check an extra bag. You'll never see me in an airport with more than my wallet, phone, boarding pass, and headphones.

And OMG, United sells a ticket where you're not even allowed to use the overhead? Can you use the bathroom, or is that an upcharge?

I take it you've never flown Spirit or Frontier, where the entire business model is selling seats without access to overhead to get you to buy it later. And if you want a cup of water, that'll be $3.

I also hope to somehow naturally find a way to add the phrase "layer of feces fume" into a conversation this weekend.

I flew Spirit once. My family and I went to Myrtle Beach for a week for my son's baseball tournament. They stayed for a while afterward, but I returned to go to work. Since we drove down, I had no luggage at all. The seats were uncomfortable as hell. Like a folding chair from 1986. I don't know how people do that airline for more than an hour flight.

I like budget airlines but they’re not budget enough in the US for me. I took a Ryan Air flight from Venice to Bremen (Germany) and it was absurdly cheap... but not very comfortable. I would do it again if a train isn’t available.

kpjb said:

. The seats were uncomfortable as hell. Like a folding chair from 1986. I don't know how people do that airline for more than an hour flight.

I do it because if I time it right and shove all my clothes in a backpack I can fly from Orlando to Cleveland for a long weekend at Cedar Point round trip for less than a tank of gas.

Yeah, I did Allegiant once out of Sanford, and will never do that again. Spirit once also, will never repeat. The seats were just terrible. The lowest I'll go is Frontier, and even then, only because they have upgrades to the front of the plane with slightly better seats.

I've done Spirit and Frontier countless times. But for the ridiculously uncomfortable seats and the laughably small tray tables I've actually never had a bad experience. Honestly they've been far more reliable than the major airlines as far as on-time departures, sticking to schedules, etc. But I've never done Allegiant. Not sure if it's the random articles you see once in a while about their safety or the fact that it's often second-tier airports and wacky takeoff times, but I don't even consider them an option when I'm looking to go somewhere.

Speaking of budget airlines, anyone tried these guys?

Their stewardesses are nice, at least.

kpjb said:

And OMG, United sells a ticket where you're not even allowed to use the overhead? Can you use the bathroom, or is that an upcharge?

Not so much that you aren't allowed rather you are only permitted a personal item to carry on the plane so you would place that under your seat. You board dead last so if you actually found an open overhead bin I doubt they would argue much if you took it. It is their cheapest tier ticket and is meant to compete with the budget airlines.

As Brett said, I have always had good service with Frontier. Sure there isn't much to the flight but when you consider the time saved from flying, you can't really complain about the price. I flew non-stop from MCO to CLE for a wedding and the ticket price was $17. Even after I bought every upgrade possible I was still only paying $49.

kpjb said:
I HATE lugging stuff around with me..

Same! If my trip is 7 days or under, I can fit everything I need into a backpack. That is the most I will every pack for just about any flight. For a little longer of a trip I will pack a carry on but that is rare. Last year I flew out to California a couple times for less than 24 hours and on those flights I only brought what fit in my pockets. THAT was a nice feeling walking into the airport with only a wallet and cellphone. Weird but very cool to not be responsible for a bag of any size.

A few years ago I flew Ryanair from Dublin to Paphos.

That's five hours in the air plus taxi time.

Those seats are fine for an hour, maybe for two – but not for five.

If I ever do it again I'll be bringing my own cushions.

You know they will figure out a way to charge you for that.

—Dave Althoff, Jr.

Last year I was looking at some ridiculously cheap flights to Amsterdam on Norwegian Air. I figured it was the national airline of Norway or something. I talked to a colleague in the UK who advised me, no, I really didn't want to subject myself to their service on a transatlantic flight.

hambone said:

Last year I was looking at some ridiculously cheap flights to Amsterdam on Norwegian Air. I figured it was the national airline of Norway or something. I talked to a colleague in the UK who advised me, no, I really didn't want to subject myself to their service on a transatlantic flight.

Norwegian is (was?) fine. Their service was perfectly adequate, and several notches above the other low fare airlines.

That being said, they filed for examinership today. They've been on borrowed time for a while, and I rather suspect this is the beginning of the end:
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/1118/1179030-norwegian-air-se...igh-court/